A series of bombings and gunfire outside a Jakarta Starbucks has left at least six people dead and 19 wounded, with ISIS claiming responsibility for the attacks. The dead include two civilians, a Canadian and an Indonesian, along with a police officer who was shot by a gunman. The attack is being compared to the Nov. 13 Paris massacre. The explosions were apparent suicide attacks. Four suspects have been arrested.
At approximately 10:55 a.m. today (10:55 p.m. E.T. Wednesday) the first explosion went off in the car park of the Starbucks store adjacent to the Sarinah department store on Jalan M.H. Thamrin in Central Jakarta, a shopping and entertainment district with numerous Western chain stores and restaurants. As people fled from the scene they were shot at by gunmen outside the coffee shop.
Within 10 minutes there were six more explosions. Police say the attackers were on motorcycles and on foot. One of the explosions occurred when two attackers blew themselves up after riding a motorcycle at a nearby police post.
Police engaged in a sporadic firefight until 12:35 p.m., and said they were still looking for suspected gunmen who were thought to be hiding in the Skyline building where the Starbucks is housed. Jakarta Globe says it is still not clear who the perpetrators are, but the New York Times reports that a news service closely association with ISIS said that the militant group was claiming responsibility. Gen. Tito Karnavian, Jakarta Provincial Police chief, stated at a news conference that the attackers were linked to leaders of ISIS in Syria.
Karnavian identified Bahrun Naim as a suspect. Bahrun is an Indonesian citizen and leader of a Southeast Asian-based military unit under the Islamic state. Police appear to have been aware of him for some time.
Witness Handi Kurniawan watched the even from his office, located 20 floors above the scene. He told CNN, “We were so scared. We just could not believe that this kind of thing (could) happen again in Jakarta.”
Twitter feeds worldwide now include the hashtag #prayforjakarta. Twitter user “ikhwanusms,” located within 5 miles of the incident, tweeted …”in the independent state all we need is tolerance, violent way not welcome here.”